Bombs don't win hearts and minds...

Some good news. This morning the guns are finally silent in Lebanon. Let's hope it stays that way.

The post-mortems have already begun. One lesson is that "shock and awe" blanket bombing is not a good political tactic. The people of Lebanon seem now seem to be united in anger towards Israel...a reality that did not exist before the war started. The Bush Administration might want to take this into account before the go bombing Iran.

Maybe the biggest lesson from the war is that America and Israel need to pursue the diplomatic option in the Middle East. The Arab world will no longer see the IDF as invincible. My guess is that Hamas is already taking a look at the Hezbollah training manual.

So there are no real winners or losers. But maybe some valuable lessons for the future.